Roof decking



y 1938. w. M. GOLDSMITH 2,118,191

ROOF DEGKING I Filed June 3, 1936 INVENTOR; lfil/[mz Afda/dsmf/zATTORNEYS Patented May 24, 1938 v UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1' Claim.

This invention relates to so called steel roof decks.

Roof decks of the character with which this invention is concerned,comprise generally rectangular, corrugated or ribbed, sheet metal platesthat are positioned in overlapping relation and are secured to purlinsor other roof supporting members, in various ways and by various means.This invention is not concerned with any specific means or method ofsecuring the plates although the invention is such as readily adapts thedeck plates of the invention to the various methods and means used forsecuring the deck platesin position.

Deck plates heretofore used are objectionable in various regards such asmaking it necessary to force the ribs on one deck plate within the ribsof adjacent plates end for end, which in turn caused buckling of thesheet metal between ribs and which also involved tedious and slowplacement of the deck pans.

It is common practice to place insulation material of the board or rigidtype over the deck plates and water proof roofing, such as variousroofing materials commonly applied to any type of roof construction. Thebuckling of deck plates prevents the insulation fro'mlying flat and. consequently considerable difliculty is encountered in obtaining effectiveunification of the roof forming elements and drainage'is also effected.

An object of the invention is'to obviate the objectionable featuresmentioned as being present in deck plates now in commercial use.

Another object of the invention is to facilitate and expedite the layingand securing of deck plates.

, Another object is to obviate, in a simple manner, any possibility ofbuckling of the deck plates.

Another object is to provide deck plates that can be overlapped tovarying degree without interfering with the ease or rapidity ofplacement,

and without interference to the utilization of.

means employed for securing the decks to the purlins and the like. 7

These and other objects are attained by the means described herein anddisclosed in the accompanying drawing wherein Fig. 1 is aperspectiveview of a deck plate embodying the' insheet metal is generally in lengthto span from purlin to purlin or multiples of this spacing and about 1to 2 feet wide, although the width can be wider, and is ribbed orgrooved longitudinally. The ribs are used to strengthen the sheet metal,to space .the main or body portion of the plate from the understructureor purlins and to provide means for receiving clips or the like wherebythe deck plates are secured to the supports.

The deck plates of the invention are provided with longitudinal ribsproviding grooves of uni- .deck plates. The taper of the groove issuflicient to allow the ribs to move and lug within one another withoutforcing them. For example, if the larger end of a groove is one inchacross its widest part, viz., the open upper end or mouth thereof andabout three quarters of an inch at its base or closed end, whereas thesame groove at the other end of the plate, assuming the plate to be 10feet long, is three quarters of an inch wide at its mouth and one-halfan inch wide at its base. The depth of the groove is constant. The sidewalls of the grooves taper downwardly. Along one of the longitudinaledges of the plate, there is provided a flange 10 adapted to be receivedin a longitudinal groove ll of an adjacent plate. grooves 12 and i3. Thelongitudinal center lines of the grooves are parallel.

From the foregoing description and explana-,- tion it is now obviousthat the plates can be so assembled over purlins and the like that theoverlap of plates will be positioned at the purlins or other supportingunderstructure, whereby The groove ii is similar to the other firmly tosecure the plates together and to the understructure by the customaryclipsand the like. The telescoping feature of the plates permitsoverlapping of the plates to various degrees as may be necessary ordesirable and'permits centering of the plates upon the purlins withoutany forcing of one plate into another. v

What is claimed is:

' A rook deck plate comprising a sheet of metal formed to provide aseries of spaced channel-like ribs extending across it, the width of theribs tapering uniformly from one end to the other,

the walls of the ribs converging toward one another from the open top tothe closed bottom portions of the ribs, and the depth of each rib beinguniform throughout the length of the rib.

- WILLIAM M. GOLDSMITH.

